


Burnout

by thisisle



Category: Hannibal Lecter Series - All Media Types
Genre: Albert Roden - Freeform, Angst, Fluff and Angst, Hannibal - Freeform, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Other, Sleep, Sleep Deprivation, h/c, idk why roden isn't showing up, m/m if you squint hard enough, noble pilcher - Freeform, yert
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-17
Updated: 2020-01-17
Packaged: 2021-02-27 12:53:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,035
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22287439
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thisisle/pseuds/thisisle
Summary: "Hello, Officer Starling." "Dr. Pilcher." "How about 'Professor Pilcher'?" "Are you a professor?" "No, but I'm not a doctor either. What I am is glad to see you. Want to look at some bugs?" "Sure. Where's Dr. Roden?" "He made most of the progress over the last two nights with chaetaxy and finally he had to crash. Did you see the bug before we started on it?" Or, giving some love to Roden <3 underappreciated and underrated.
Relationships: Noble Pilcher/Albert Roden





	Burnout

**Author's Note:**

> Please dont flame me
> 
> Alright so I guess Roden isn't a character to be listed. So I ended up listing Hannibal instead ?? Shit is confusing. Kms
> 
> Also I do not know how to do indentations on AO3, I promise I'm literate :')
> 
> Hmu if you feel it needs a second chapter I am on the fence on if it needs one or not dsjgdsjagds;jga;ga

Albert Roden had worked himself to the bone for this case. He supposed he enjoyed the opportunity to be part of the big picture in the case, to proudly say that he was a helping hand in taking down Buffalo Bill. He also felt bad for the girls already killed by him, and feared for his future “projects”. He strived to help prevent it, but to his own burnout. He kept pushing the inevitable out of his mind, trying to focus on finishing what he could. He’d been here nearly all of last night, and went home only to sleep for a few hours before coming back in, early and before the others arrived. He clocked in before the sun was climbing the sky. Since then, he’d been down in the lab. Roden had not seen the sun in two days. He didn’t even know what time it was. He knew that it was late to the point he could feel the sweat from the day settling on his skin, very unpleasantly. He was sure that his hands were also pruned from perspiration inside the gloves he wore. He was over a desk, two lamplights shining down on the moth between his hands. Chaetaxy was long and tiresome work, but he was nearly done. He could finish this, he could do it. 

Noble Pilcher was already on his way down to check on Roden when one of their superiors stopped him in the hallway. “Are you heading down to see Mr. Roden?” The man (and, quite frankly, nearly everyone that worked there) knew that Pilcher and Roden went together like peanut butter and jelly. Their work ethic and system was efficient and their bond incredibly strong. They were as comfortable with each other in the lab than they would be in their own homes. When one was found, the other was not far. 

“Yes.” 

“Would you mind checking on him, make sure he’s still here? He’s brewed up a lot of overtime in the past few days. I want to make sure he didn't forget to punch out.” 

“Sure.” 

Rounding the last corner to the door to their lab, Pilcher called out. “Roden?” No answer. Maybe he did leave and forget to punch out. Pilcher couldn’t blame him, he was probably sleep deprived at this point. He only hoped that if he really was home, he was at least having an uninterrupted sleep. However, once he opened the doors and walked in, he found the other man hunched over a desk, hands hovering over one of the moths. He had forceps in one gloved hand and the other hovering near the creature’s body. When Roden didn’t answer, Pilcher took more steps forward. Now closer, he could see that Roden’s hands were shaking. “Al?” he questioned, using the uncommon occurrence of the man’s first name. Still no answer. 

Pilcher was now close enough to see that the shaking was not just in his hands but up his arms and to his shoulders. He gingerly reached out a hand, placing it on his back. “Hey,” he said, trying to snap him out of his revery. Roden startled, forceps dropping from his right hand. His head whipped up, blinking his red and bloodshot eyes. “Yeah? Yes?” He looked horrible. There were bags under his eyes and his cheeks were gaunt. “You look bad. Have you eaten?” Roden seemed to be confused. He was also evading. “What time is it?” Pilcher looked to his watch, reading the time. “It’s quarter till five in the afternoon. I know I’m a little late coming in, but it looks like I came just in time. Let’s get you home, you look like you’re about to fall asleep here and fall right out of your chair.” 

Roden glanced to the moth before looking back to Pilcher. “But we’re not done yet.” 

Pilcher smiled, motioning for the other to stand up. “I’ll get the rest of it. Don’t worry. You’ve gotten us so far into this, the least I can do is handle the rest while you get some much needed sleep.” Roden seemed to be cautious, but obeyed. When he stood, he swayed, reaching out to grab the edge of the table for balance. With his other hand he began to rub at his eyes, yawning, before quickly putting his hand back at his side, realizing what he was doing. He didn’t want to attract attention to his exhaustion. Pilcher stood to his side, grabbing his elbow and leading him out of the lab. “Are you sure you’ve got this?” Roden questioned, shuffling after his partner. “Because I don’t mind staying for a little while longer to help. Like you said, we’re almost-” Another yawn. “Finished.” 

“Yes, I’m sure. Now come on.” Roden followed, shaking his arm out of Pilcher’s grasp. He was perfectly capable to walk on his own, thank you very much. Even if he was slow, he was still trudging along. He didn’t realize he was walking with his eyes closed until he felt a hand in his pocket. He opened his eyes, looking dumbly down as Pilcher took hold of his identification badge. Wordlessly, he took it and punched Roden out, slipping the plastic badge back in the other male’s pocket, resuming his trek back to the parking lot. “You coming?” Roden looked up, looking as attentive as he could be. “Yes.”

Roden followed his partner out to the parking lot, and only when they were getting close enough to see the screws in license plates as they passed, he fumbled in his lab coat pockets. “I, uh.” He produced his keys, holding them absently in one hand. “I forgot where I parked.” 

Pilcher looked over his shoulder to the other man, and gave a huff of a laugh. “You’re definitely not driving. Not when you’ve not slept in almost three days.” 

The exhausted scientist nodded, resigned. He surrendered the keys into Pilcher’s hand. “Good point.” 

“You are going right to bed when we get to your house. There is no excuse.” Pilcer frowned at the way Roden’s hand was trembling as he gave him the keys. When he took the keys, he took hold of Roden’s hand, giving it a light squeeze. “You’ll feel more like yourself soon.” He gave the reassurance a confirming nod, further driving his point into his sleep-deprived friend’s mind. It almost sounded like a persuasion. When it came to his stubbornness, forming his words to seem coaxing was almost necessary. Otherwise, he’d insist he didn’t need the help. He was always a very independent man. 

\---

No sooner than Roden clambered into the passenger seat, he was already leaning his head against the side of the car door. He didn’t even put his seat belt on. Pilcher put his on, looking over to his colleague. “Roden.” Nothing. “Roden.” Again, nothing. He reached over, rubbing his hand up and down his arm. “Roden,” he called again, a little more forcefully this time. The man finally responded, blinking heavy lidded eyes that were moving wildly around. “What? What?” It only took a point of a finger to the seatbelt for him to understand what he was to do. He dutifully stretched it across himself, clicking it into place. 

It was then that Pilcher began to pull out of the parking lot. He knew Roden’s address and directions to his house as well as he knew his own. In that aspect, he also knew his car as well as his own. It didn’t take him any extra moments to figure anything out. He turned the stereo on, keeping it at a quiet volume, as not to stir his friend. The drive to Roden’s house was not far at all, and he did it slightly above the speed limit. Getting him there faster would be ideal, so he wouldn’t be too deep in sleep to get out of the car. 

Arriving at the other scientist’s house, Pilcher started to rub his arm again, even shaking his shoulder when he didn’t respond. “We’re here,” he said loudly. He tried to make as much noise as he could in getting out of the car. He allowed his seatbelt to clang noisily, jangled the keys a bit once they were out of the ignition, and even slammed his car door. By the time he exited and was at the passenger side, Roden had begun to move a bit. It seemed he only moved his head away from the sound of the noise, but he was moving. That was good. Pilcher opened the door slowly, aware that Roden’s head was resting upon it. The poor man jerked when his steadiness was taken out from under him. He startled, breath quickening as he surveyed the scene. Pilcher opened the door further, a smile on his lips. “You okay?” he questioned. “You’re in the car. I took you home.”

Roden looked himself over, assuming he was hurt if he was to be taken home early. Then the recognition hit his eyes. So he knew. He unbuckled himself, getting out of the car. Pilcher shut the door behind him, locking the car and holding onto Roden’s arm, much like he was guiding a blind man. “Let’s get you something to eat real quick and then get you to bed. Sound good?” 

“No. I’m not eating. I’m just going to go to bed.” 

“When was the last time you ate? When I came in today, you were shaking. You still are. Your cheeks are hollowed and the bags under your eyes certainly aren’t handsome. You’ve been working yourself to the bone on this case. You’ve done great, I can take it from here.”

Roden didn’t say anything, but he seemed satisfied with the answer. When they got to his door, he didn’t even fumble for his keys. He knew Pilcher had them and knew which key unlocked the door. The pair had been over each other’s houses plenty of times, it was second nature to them. Pilcher unlocked it with practiced ease, and shut the door behind them. Roden was making a beeline for the couch, but Pilcher held him back. “You need to eat. You can’t even remember the last time you did.”

The resounding sigh that came from him indicated his crankiness. Pilcher almost felt bad keeping him awake for much longer. He went to the kitchen to grab something from the fridge, something that he wouldn’t have to take time to cook. He settled for a banana, bringing it back out to the living room. Roden was struggling to stay up, most of his weight on the side of the couch. He wasn’t sitting down, aware that Pilcher was returning to him. He blinked bleary eyes when he came back with food. He took it from him, eating only out of necessity and to the other scientist’s urging. 

“That’s enough. Good night.” With that, Roden handed it back to him and began to crawl on the couch. 

“Hey! Not yet. Don’t you want to go to your bedroom and sleep in the bed?” Pilcher set the banana (not even half eaten) down on the coffee table, catching Roden before he could collapse onto the couch. “You’re not even undressed, you’re going to wake up in the middle of your sleep, cranky and hot. Take your lab coat off.” Pilcher helped him undress, taking the heavy lab coat away from him, draping it over the back of the cushions. He let Roden sink into the couch, spent and exhausted. With a quick, fond glance to the soon-to-be-dead-asleep man, Pilcher then took a step to the side and began taking off the man’s shoes. He’d been too tired to do it himself, and Pilcher didn’t blame him. He tucked him into a more comfortable position and sat next to him. 

Some hours later, after Pilcher had finished the banana meant for his partner and was busying himself reading a book, Roden stirred for the first time since he’d fallen asleep. His legs twitched and then, moments later, stretched out. They rested atop the other scientist’s thighs; Pilcher only moved to place his hands on top of the backs of his calves without skipping a beat.


End file.
